Newslink January 2022

Area focus
Scotland chair steps down on a high note
as the STS makes a welcome return
Ever wondered how much work goes
into organising an MSA GB event? Alex Buist,
Vice Chair, MSA GB Scotland, outlines the
planning for the recent Scotland Training
Seminar, followed by a full report on the
event itself
The decision to hold a Scottish Training
Seminar (STS) in 2021 was taken at a
Zoom meeting earlier that year, with the
provision that we would plan for a
face-to-face conference but could revert
to Zoom if we were not allowed.
Peter Harvey MBE was tasked to find
us a suitable location and to invite
members of the DVSA along, with
Loveday Ryder and John Sheridan our
first choices.
I was tasked to see if we could get a
police speaker to talk about electric
vehicles, with other suggestions for
speakers made.
After price rises ruled out our usual
venue, the Westerwood Hotel, Peter
spoke to the Castlecary Hotel, not far
from the Westerwood. They could
accommodate us, and Loveday Ryder
and John Sheridan had also agreed in
principle to attend.
I had contacted Chief Superintendent
Louise Blakelock, Road Policing, Police
Scotland to see if we could get a speaker
for the STS, and Peter had managed to
get some sponsors organised. Things
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were moving nicely towards our first
face-to-face conference for two years,
with the only stumbling block whether
the First Minister would allow it to go
ahead in light of the situation with the
pandemic.
With no official news forthcoming and
the event still some time off, the
committee continued to plan the event,
with raffle prizes purchased, table names
produced and name badges created for
those who would be attending.
Steven Porter and Bryan Phillips made
great in-roads on our Facebook page to
advertise the STS, reminding all about
the event and to book quickly to get the
early bird discount, and we had our first
delegates book on – though slowly at
first. Indeed, such was the pace of
bookings that committee were concerned
that many ADIs were still wary about
Covid and were possibly reluctant to
come to a large meeting of individuals.
However, we had a boost to our
confidence in the summer when the First
Minister relaxed the rules, and we knew
that we could go ahead.
Loveday Ryder, John Sheridan
and Willie Hamilton
By this point I had confirmation that
Chief Inspector Mark Patterson would
attend on behalf of Police Scotland to
talk about electric vehicles, Loveday
Ryder and John Sheridan had also
confirmed, the venue was now firmly in
the schedule and rooms booked for those
who needed an overnight stay. What
could possibly go wrong?
On the week leading up to the
conference I received news that Chief
Inspector Patterson would be unable to
attend due to a family bereavement. At
that point I was a little concerned as to
how we could fill the space with so little
time left. I contacted Chief Superintendent
Blakelock, to first of all pass on the
Scottish Committee’s condolences to her
colleague but wondering if she could
suggest a replacement. She certainly did
not disappoint us because within a day
she said that Constable Keith Sutherland
would be available to deliver the talk. We
were extremely grateful to her for acting
so quickly.
We also managed to obtain another
speaker who has graced our conferences
before, Bob Morton, who also agreed last
minute to attend.
So, it looked as if everything was now
heading in the right direction and we
could looked forward to 20th November
to arrive. Castlecary Hotel prepared the
hall by setting up tables and chairs, and
the committee descended to sort out the
various handouts and other bits and
pieces into bags to be handed to
delegates on arrival. Table names were
put out and the MSA GB Scotland
Secretary Brian Thompson placed the
winning raffle receipts under three
randomly selected chairs.
Jean and Peter had prepared all the
delegate badges and they were placed
ready to be handed out the following day.
The raffle prizes that I had purchased
were also readied for Sunday. Gerry, the
hotel manager, was excellent in assisting
us and getting any equipment that we
required.
Steven Porter’s friend attended to set
up the microphones and speaker system.
He has done this before for us and as
usual did a splendid job.
We now stepped back to look at the
room; everything was in place, and we
NEWSLINK n JANUARY 2022